"And I don't want the world to see me
'Cause I don't think that they'd understand."
~Goo Goo Dolls, Iris

Prolouge:
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November 19, 1973

I love the steppes. It is the most wonderful area to live. Away from civilization. Away from noise. Away from anything that does not need to be there. It's the most peaceful thing. Or it was. Anyway, I needlessly ramble.

Every story must have it's hero. This one is the same way. My name is Keith Ke'oran. To really say that I am a hero is not quite true. I just happen to have the right opportunities to give my point of view. I am what is commonly known as a Seraphim. I was an angel. I am commonly seen as a fox. So with this in mind, I begin my tale.

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Part 1: The Village

I came down from the mountain. I could feel the cold snow as it crunched underneath my pads. I carefully avoid a small violet. A glimmer of the frost that I blow onto it catches my eye. i love to marvel at the little things like this. Plucking it, I decide to take it to the village. I have lived here quite some time. I watched first. Then when I fell, I was taken in here. I loved the family that i lived with. The parents died, though, and I have been a big brother ever since.

I see an old friend off to my right. She is huddled around her herd of llamas. Smiling at the matted fur, I remember how warm those tall things can be. I wave to her cheerily, my voice cutting throught the cold air.

"Hello Arrin!"

She looks up at me, a faint smile on her lips, "Hey Keith."

"How is little June?"

"He's playing happily."

I laugh and with a wave of my hand, I start down again.

The villige of Ja'erath, or Ja as most creatures call it is a cozy little place. It has a few huts, thatched roofs, adobe or brick sides, and wooden doors. They are all built the same way, but each has some eccentricities. There was an abundance of animals in the village common.

I strode throught town towards my small house that I shared with my sister. My ears twitch, hearing a loud sound up ahead. Pattering of feet, squealing of voices. At first this reassures me, but I catch an anxious undertone to the event. I pick up the pace, striding to a crowd of creatures. I can smell the fear of most of the smaller creatures. Although I know that I could never kill any of them, I get a rush out of feeling the stench of fear on them. They seem to sense my approach as well and part to let me through. I see a young rat that just got sent here to take the place of the old, withered, wizened mouse we had. I don't really like Louis much. That is the rat's name. He has a bit of a know-it-all sense about him. I did happen to like his aide, though. She was my sister. I was hoping and praying for her to get to become a healer.

Pointedly ignoring Louis, I walk up to Stamm, "Who is it?"

The petite, young otter looked at me with her almond eyes that could melt the ice off the steppes. "It was poor Auloria. You know how the famine hit her family."

I nodded solemnly, "Aye. Do you know what it is?" I couldn't see through the blanket covering her.

"Well, it-"

"It's not something that will be said." Said Louis, just as pointedly abusing his authority. "You will be informed with everyone else. Now Stamm."

"Yes sir." My sister meekly replied.

This made me very unhappy. No one should talk to my sister with that tone of voice. Unfortunately, that rat was the deciding factor on if my sister becomes a healer or not. I would love to. No I wouldn't. I'm a good person. I wish he would be more tolerable, though.

"Well, I'll have something cooked for you, Stamm. Stew perhaps?"

"The infamous KeKe stew. I've never had that delicacy before."

I stuck my tongue out at her and sauntered to the house.

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I love my brother. He's been with me my whole life and I couldn't live without him. I look at the patient cringing. "Think it's a case of MV? I heard some down south, but here?

Louis looked at me, a gleam in his eye that I did not care for, "Aye, 'tis."

I cringed again. MV, or Masquerade de Vitae was a nasty disease. It caused leisons around the face. These boiled up to 2 inches in the worst cases and proceeded to explode. The infection by that time would have delved into the skull. It would have caused a hemmorage in her head, killing her of a massive stroke.

I wish Keith was here again.

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I wander through the town. Days like this should be used to their full potential. I head towards Keith's house. Maybe what he hinted at wasn't just idle talk.

Part 2: The Third Wheel

I sat at home. Waiting for the stew to finish. The smell of the fish invaded my nostrils. I sat back and let it, taking in other scents as well. I could smell the wood on the fire burning. Ash, I think. I could smell the hot iron of the kettle. I can smell something, yes! She is coming. I hastily run to my bedroom and throw on some nicer clothes. I hear the familiar knock at the door. Rushing to it, I open.

I love the smell of those few people that I love. I love Stamm's scent. It reminds me of Lilacs. Now Aurora on the other hand, she is the most perfect... Well, there is no good way to describe her, except by describing her.  She is a fox, to begin with. She is also half the reason that I got kicked out. She is not what others would call a 'looker'. She has large glasses, large eyes, but they have the deepest grey color to them. She has a long mane of black hair. To top it all off, she can dance.

While I was marveling, she made a polite little cough. Remembering my manners suddenly, I stepped aside, to let her out of the cold. She smiled as she walked by. I watched her pass and my jaw dropped. She wore the dress that I picked out for her. It was a long, flowing gown. Green in color, velvet in texture. She did a pirouette for me, giving me her broadest grin. I could feel something melt. Crumble. Crumble. Disaster.

"Like it, I see." She chimed.

I dumbly nodded.

"What, no compliments?" She put a hand on her hip, intimidating. The button at the top of the dress popped off. Perfect timing. I rush over with a coat to cover her up, she trips, falls into my arm, the coat falling away, and just then. Stamm walks in.

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Ok, I've seen my brother make eyes at that vixen before, but this.

"I'm gonna go wash up." I head to the washroom, shaking my head. I was ready for somethings, but this isn't one of them.

I sit down, with a now-jerkined Aurora and KeKe to my right. No one to my right, as is custom. He mumbles a prayer, signaling the beginning of dinner. I felt sorry for my brother. He really shouldn't have cooked when his girl was coming over. He always over-salted his stew. I looked as she declined naught but the smallest portion. That sly vixen had already eaten to keep from having the stew. After dinner we sat around the fire, Keith evidently waiting for me to take a hint and leave the two of them alone.

"Well, I must be off to a friend's house." It really was childish of them, but I humored Keith.

They both smiled at me warmly, and I saw a grin pass Keith's face for a second. So maybe I'll be an aunt.

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I snuggled close to Keith. I could feel the softness of his fur. He smelled of burning wood. It wasn't unpleasant. I twined my tail about him, letting him stroke it. I purred in happiness when he took the cue. He had the most supple paws, not a callous in sight.

"Please, Keith."

"But Aurora?" He questioned, not sure.

"Please, I love it."

"Alright." He bowed his head forward, his long locks drooping down. I could hear the stretching sound in his back, as white tips started to show. Soon a full wingspan ran the length of the room. I stroked the feathers, amazing at their resiliency. I started to purr again.

"I love these wings, Keith." I cooed, "You'll get a good suprise for them."

His wings retracted into his back again, a grin on his face. "Yeah? Like what?"

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Part 3: Interloper

I have lived on this earth for centuries. My name is Kai. I am Vampyre. I look for the best prey. Only the best. I saw Keith a year ago. I could sense he wasn't of this world. I followed him for a year or more. When I finally saw him, I knew it. He was the one.

I crept in throught the door. It was cracked open, and I slipped closer to the distarcted pair. The vixen looked into my eyes and I cursed my luck. I quickly hypnotized her and ordered her to sleep. Keith sensed something was wrong. He turned and saw me for what I was.

"Who are you to come into this house?"

I smiled, "No more a lamb of God are ye than that maid."

He growled and dropped into a fighting stance, unravelling his wings, his eyes snapping up to meet mine, "I'll not let the maid be touched."

I smiled at him. "I figured as much. Then on your gaurd?" I drew my favorite blade. It was strapped to my back, and was as long as my thigh. I grinned again.

He raced forward, pulling up the fire poker. I danced aside at his puny blows and struck at his poker. He cried out, it flying from his hand. Then my vision was blurred by white and I felt myself leave the ground. I saw him pull his wing back and pick the poker back up. He was breathing heavily. I decided that enough was enough. Using my preternatural speed, I zip the blade across his achillies tendon. He cries in pain, falling to the ground, clutching his leg.

"Enjoy the pain? It will never end, you know."

He looked at me with a hatred in his eye as I fling the blade at him. He throws himself to the side, crying out at the weight put on the injured foot. The blade cuts along his belly, flying up his chest. As it hits the wall, a rivulet of blood runs along the path the blade took. He lays there, struggling to get up, I see a tear run down his cheek. At that moment, I realize I had won. I walk over to the vixen sprawled out on the chair.

"I bet ye'd be more inclined to fight if she were at stake, no?" I pick her up easily from the chair. I hold a small dagger to her neck, making a small prick and licking the blood that beads there. She is the best tasting I have had in a while.

He started to twitch, sobbing, "No..."

I smile, "Get up and come to me." He complies, staggering toward me with a pleading look in his eyes.

"No..." He whispers, blood running down his face from his scalp. He must have hit something in the fall.

I quickly grab him and sink into his neck. "So cliched," I think as I feel his life pour into me. Mmm... He is succulent, like no vintage I have tasted before. I can see his life before me. All his agony, all his hatred, all his glory. I revel in it.  Feeling that last bit go into me, I drop him to the ground. "Now, Keith, it is time." I put my wrist to his lips. I cut myself. I can feel the cold of the outside air bite into my dead veins and arteries. Never to pump, but forever to carry that blood.

I stop the drip into his mouth as his eyes start to flutter. "Now, Keith, enjoy eternal damnation." I fly into the night. I remember something and turn around to return to him as he starts to rise. "I nearly forgot dinner." I say, picking up the vixen. "Oh well, I better eat before running." I sink my teeth into her, but suddenly there's a pulling sensation in my back. I look down and see the tip of my favorite blade through my stomach. In a rage, I fly away. "I'll never go there again." I think to myself.

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What has he done?

What am I?

I sense that I am in my fox form. I start to pull my wings out. I can feel a tearing sensation in my back. I cry out as it feels like my shoulderblades are ripping through my flesh. Suddenly it ends with a popping sound. My wings feel strange. Cold. I feel a slimy substance coming off them.

I look in the mirror. Staggering back, I fall onto the floor. The image of bat-wings is ingrained into my skull. I start to cry towards the sky, a strange eerie glow starts to surround me.

"It is over. You are undone." A voice tells me.

The glow spreads out, pushing away Aurora. I see her body, and the glow turns red. It spreads out more and more, breaking apart the small hovel I called home. I see small pictures drawn by Stamm. Baubles that remind me of life. The glow turns into an explosion. The walls rip apart, flying into other buildings. Tearing them apart as well.

I fly into the night. I lad on the roof of a nearby house. It amazingly holds, but I see a single rose petal in the snow. It shrivels and dies in front of me. My eyes see all of the small details. The individual wrinkles. The small nuances of color that separate it from the other reds. Such as the blood. I see the blood of the innocents and start to sob. My small pink tears staining and freezing on my cheeks. Again, I dissappear. Never to be seen again.

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I could hear the explosion from the healer's hut. Running outside, I see a piece of metal fly by my face, skimming past the nearby pond. I start off in a run toward the house, a million questions in my head.

"Who did it?"

"Why?"

"Did they get out alright?"

I get to the ruins. A crowd has already formed around the house. I step towards the rubble, tears springing to my eyes as I see his spectacles at my feet. I pick them up. They're cold. So cold. The assembled group looks atme, expectant looks on their faces. I look at them. They want answers. They don't care. Then I catch a movement nearby. Rushing over, I see Aurora.

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I still am not sure what happened. I will never be. All I know is that i need to find Keith.